The .tv Domain Name

Domain registrar and hosting company Go Daddy.com sells all sorts of domain extensions like .com and .org for their customers to suffix with, but have you ever heard of the extension .tv? No, it doesn’t stand for television, although that would make the most sense. The .tv extension is actually for the islands that comprise Tuvalu, a small independent country not too far from Fiji. Why do I mention Tuvalu, and what does this have to do with the Internet? Well, check the picture below and tell me what you think.

It would appear that the islands of Tuvalu are sinking! A tide gauge installed by the University of Hawaii has been measuring sea rise for the past 30 years and has calculated a 1.2 mm rise in the ocean every year. At only 4.5 meters above sea level, any slight rise in the waters could spell disaster for not only the crops and people of Tuvalu, but also the .tv domain name.